The Fiat 8V retains a legacy as one of the Italian marque’s most legendary cars ever made.

Its short production run, spanning from 1952 to 1954, resulted in 114 examples of the 8V—or Ottovù in Italian—being made.

Intriguingly, some cars were designed and made almost completely in-house by Fiat’s Dipartimento Carrozzerie Derivate e Speciali , or Special Bodies Department.

In total, 63 were penned by Fiat’s chief designer, Fabio Rapi; 34 first-series cars and 29 second-series cars.

Its impressive new powertrain was developed by Dante Giacosa, and the 2.0-litre Tipo 104 all-aluminium engine featured a finned sump, forged crankshaft, polished intakes and ports, and tubular stainless-steel exhaust manifolds.

This example was originally delivered to Austria on 22 June 1954, after being completed by Fiat as one of only 29 factory-made second-series 8Vs, easily distinguished by the double-layer headlights.

Chassis number 000104 has spent the majority of its life in the U.K., having been ...